By GREG JOHNS, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Sunday, September 14, 2008

A week ago, Billy McMullen was hanging out with his wife in Richmond, Va,, working out and wondering if any NFL teams might still seek his services.

Now he's the Seahawks "go-to receiver," in the words of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, a primary figure in Mike Holmgren's passing game. Which tells you more about the Seahawks' dire straits than McMullen's qualifications.

Nobody could have seen this coming, unless you're in the habit of foreseeing oncoming train wrecks.

"I hadn't really planned on using Billy at all, unless an emergency took place," said Holmgren, who met McMullen on Wednesday and began working him into the offense primarily on scout team duties. "But an emergency took place."

An already injury-riddled receiving corps took two more hits Sunday. Who would have guessed that losing backup quarterback Seneca Wallace to a pulled calf muscle in pregame warmups and then former practice squad performer Logan Payne to a wounded knee three minutes into the first quarter would wreak havoc on the wide receiving corps of a team ticketed as one of the NFC's Super Bowl contenders just two weeks ago?

"I saw Logan go down and I was just thinking, what else could happen?" said rookie Michael Bumpus, who came off the practice squad Saturday and found himself returning punts and seeing considerable time as the third receiver Sunday.

"It's just been crazy. Nobody could have written this story. But it's going to be better in the end when we overcome all this and still get where we want to be at the end of the year."

The Seahawks are now minus Deion Branch, Bobby Engram, Nate Burleson, Ben Obamanu, Wallace and Payne. Branch and Engram are hoping to return after the bye week following next Sunday's battle with St. Louis, but Burleson and Obamanu are done for the season and the severity of the injuries to Wallace and Payne won't be known until tests on Monday.

Payne tore a ligament in his knee on a hard hit by former Huskies safety Dashon Goldson after a 14-yard catch on Hasselbeck's first completion of the game. Wallace didn't even get that far, coming up lame while warming up after shifting strictly to receiving duties for the first time this week.

Holmgren had planned to primarily use Payne, Wallace and Bumpus, but suddenly found himself leaning on the 6-foot-4 McMullen.

"Who would have known I'd be out there playing that much?" the former Virginia standout said. "But I thought mentally I was prepared. I've been in the West Coast (offense) pretty much all my life, from college until now, so it was pretty easy."

McMullen had 45 career catches in 45 games with the Eagles and Vikings between 2003-06, but wasn't in the league last year. He said he tried out with five teams, but never signed with anyone.

Now he's caught a major break in Seattle, as well as three passes for 48 yards in his Qwest Field debut.

Hasselbeck acknowledged that he threw all of maybe two passes to McMullen this week in their limited time together on the practice field.

"I was not really planning on seeing him," the quarterback said. "He did a really nice job, all things considered. I was impressed. I don't know what he was doing last week at this time, but it was a nice job by him. It was like he was the go-to guy. It seemed like he was the first read on a lot of plays."

McMullen played a role in two critical turnovers, however. San Francisco linebacker Patrick Willis returned an 86-yard interception for a score on a pass Hasselbeck fired to McMullen near the goal line. But the ball arrived at the same time as cornerback Walt Harris, deflecting up off the 49ers' helmet and setting up Willis' heroics.

McMullen took more pains from a fumble at the end of a 31-yard reception after he'd hauled a Hasselbeck pass down to the 11 midway through the second quarter with the Hawks leading 14-6.

"I've got to get back in that practice mode of tucking that ball away," McMullen said after cornerback Nate Clements popped the ball loose from behind. "That really hurt me because that was a nice throw. We set him up perfectly. That was my bad. I have to tuck that ball away."

Forgive him, though. The 28-year-old hadn't played in a regular-season game since 2006, when he had a career-best 23 receptions for 307 yards for the Vikings.

"You've got to be ready," he said. "I learned that my first year in the league. In college, you've got, like, 10 receivers on the sidelines. In the NFL, there's usually five. You just never know.

"Once I got in the groove of it and got the timing down with Matt a little bit, I felt good. Just like backyard ball or practice. Nothing changed."

But everything has changed for Seattle's passing game.

Holmgren couldn't even use his four-receiver sets Sunday and said the team will likely need to sign two more new receivers this week.

Payne, leaning on crutches in the locker room, reverted to quoting a Journey song in his effort to keep the faith.

"Don't stop believing," said the former undrafted free agent out of Minnesota. "That's kind of where we're at as a team. We have to keep the faith, rally around some of the veterans and keep fighting. It's a marathon and we have a lot of games still to play. We can still get this turned around."

At 0-2, they have no choice. But for McMullen, at least, this is a golden opportunity. He played on the Eagles' Super Bowl team in 2004, though he was inactive in the big game. But he likes what he's seen in his short stay in Seattle.

"This is a different kind of team than those I've been on," he said. "More family oriented. Not a lot of big egos or nothing. It was a real easy transition for me.

"I've been on some great teams, but there's a different feel out here. I'm excited to see how we're going to pull through this and finish up in the playoffs."